Call to ban "toxic" antifreeze after death of cat in Barwell

Castiel, who had to be put down after ingesting antifreeze. His owner Deana Jordan Winchester has launched a petition calling for the sale of antifreeze containing ethylene glycol - the substance toxic to cats -to be banned. (Image: UGC)

The death of a pet cat has prompted a Barwell mum to launch a petition calling for a ban on the sale of “toxic” antifreeze.

Deana Jordan Winchester has taken to social media to share the campaign which she says could prevent others suffering similar heartache.

The 32-year-old was forced to make the agonising decision to agree euthanasia for 18-month-old Castiel when it became clear he was unlikely to recover from the poisoning after drinking antifreeze.

Deana. who lives with her partner Jason, three children and younger cat Bella in Church Lane, said: “It was the end of January and Castiel went missing for a few days, which isn’t like him, it had never happened before.

“He turned up again and seemed to be his normal self but he was throwing up. To be honest we didn’t think much of it and thought it was hairballs.

“Then he started to become really lethargic which was unusual as being a young cat he was always very active, ran around and loved fuss.

“The next day he was still being sick and was walking around as if he was drunk so we knew something wasn’t right. I’d had a cat which had suffered antifreze poisoning before and this reminded me of what had happened. “We took him to the PDSA in Lecester and the vets confirmed it was antifreeze poisoning and his kidneys were badly affected.”

The couple had three options, dialysis at a specialist veterinary practice, potentially costing £4,000, drip treatment at the PDSA to see if the poison could be flushed from his kidneys or have him put down.

Castiel, who had to be put down after ingesting antifreeze. His owner Deana Jordan Winchester has launched a petition calling for the sale of antifreeze containing ethylene glycol - the substance toxic to cats -to be banned. (Image: UGC)

Without the resources to pay for specialist care Deana and Jason asked the PDSA vets to keep him in and see if the drip worked.

When two days later there had been no change and no improvement the vets broke the news the chances of Castiel recovering were slim and even if he did rally there was no telling what kind of damage had already been done.

Dana said: “Obviously we were devastated. I got home and I thought if only he hadn’t drank the stuff in the first place, which led me to do some research.

“I found out there is a type of antifreeze which doesn’t contain ethylene glycol, the chemical that appeals to cats but is the chemical which kills them.

“So this would be a win, win situation. Cats wouldn’t want to drink it and even if they did, while it might make them poorly, it wouldn’t be fatal.

“We don’t know if the antifreeze was put out deliberately or whether this was simply a terrible accident but Castiel wouldn’t have died either way if the antifreeze without ethylene glycol was the only one available.

“I decided to organise the petition to see if we get this change so more cats don’t have to die like Castiel and owners can be saved the distress of losing a loved pet.”

You can sign the petition,which has been launched on the Avaaz.org community petitions site.